Mask refusal

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A sign letting those entering know that masks are required.

Mask refusal is when a person entering a location where masks are required refuses to wear one in violation of the guidelines of the establishment and in many cases governmental laws or mandates. This can occur during a pandemic when health experts recommend wearing face coverings in order to reduce the spread of disease. Those who refuse to wear masks during a pandemic could be endangering the health of others.

Some mask refusal incidents have resulted in confrontations with staff, law enforcement, security guards, and others. These confrontations at times have been verbally loud or in some cases violent. Some mask refusers who have engaged in confrontations have been arrested and sometimes criminally prosecuted. Videos of these incidents, which have occurred in locations such as retail stores and airplanes, have often been seen in the news and social media and have gone viral.

History[edit]

Opposition to wearing masks occurred during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. The Anti-Mask League of San Francisco was formed by those who refused to wear masks.[1] During the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, $5 fines were imposed in San Francisco for failure to wear masks as a violation of "disturbing the peace", and many refusing to wear the mask paid the fines.[2]

Mask opposition has been a common sight around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic as those opposed to the requirement to cover their faces have exhibited protests and unruly behavior in public over their refusal to follow this guideline.[3][4]

Reasons[edit]

Reasons given by people who refuse to wear face masks range significantly: some believe them to be ineffective at reducing COVID-19 transmission, that the threats of the virus are exaggerated (or even that it does not exist) while others object to governments having the power to force people to wear face coverings.[5]

Mask-wearing has been seen as an example of a generational divide by some, with older adults who refused to wear masks being seen as selfish.[6] In addition, men have been seen as more likely to refuse wearing masks, seeing them as a threat to their masculinity.[7][8] Refusal to wear face masks is also linked to vaccine hesitancy or anti-vaccination sentiment, political conservatism,[9] rural dwelling,[10][11] and non-adherence to public hygiene rules, or social distancing guidelines.[5] Other factors which may make people less likely to wear masks includes a low death rate due to pandemic disease in one's hometown, and low mask-wearing among one's peers.[12]

Consequences[edit]

Consequences for mask refusal or improper mask-wearing can range from anything from public shaming[13][14] (including calling women who refuse to wear masks "Karens"[15]), banning from the establishment either temporarily or permanently,[16][17] or criminal prosecution.[18][19]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Smith, Kiona N. "Protesting During A Pandemic Isn't New: Meet The Anti-Mask League Of 1918". Forbes.
  2. ^ Smith, Kiona N. "Protesting During A Pandemic Isn't New: Meet The Anti-Mask League Of 1918". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  3. ^ Stewart, Emily (7 August 2020). "Anti-maskers explain themselves". Vox. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Anti-lockdown protests erupt across Europe as tempers fray over tightening restrictions". France 24. 21 March 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  5. ^ a b Taylor, Steven; Asmundson, Gordon J. G. (2021-02-17). "Negative attitudes about facemasks during the COVID-19 pandemic: The dual importance of perceived ineffectiveness and psychological reactance". PLOS ONE. 16 (2): e0246317. Bibcode:2021PLoSO..1646317T. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0246317. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 7888611. PMID 33596207.
  6. ^ Ayalon, Liat (14 April 2020). "There is nothing new under the sun: ageism and intergenerational tension in the age of the COVID-19 outbreak" (PDF). International Psychogeriatrics. 32 (10): 1221–1224. doi:10.1017/S1041610220000575. PMC 7184144. PMID 32284078.
  7. ^ Palmer, Carl L.; Peterson, Rolfe D. (9 July 2020). "Toxic Mask-ulinity: The Link between Masculine Toughness and Affective Reactions to Mask Wearing in the COVID-19 Era" (PDF). Politics & Gender. 16 (4): 1044–1051. doi:10.1017/S1743923X20000422. ISSN 1743-923X.
  8. ^ Capraro, Valerio; Barcelo, Hélène (11 May 2020). "The effect of messaging and gender on intentions to wear a face covering to slow down COVID-19 transmission". PsyArXiv. arXiv:2005.05467. doi:10.31234/osf.io/tg7vz. S2CID 218596304.
  9. ^ Latkin, Carl A.; Dayton, Lauren; Yi, Grace; Colon, Brian; Kong, Xiangrong (2021-02-16). "Mask usage, social distancing, racial, and gender correlates of COVID-19 vaccine intentions among adults in the US". PLOS ONE. 16 (2): e0246970. Bibcode:2021PLoSO..1646970L. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0246970. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 7886161. PMID 33592035.
  10. ^ Padilla, Mariel (2 June 2020). "Who's Wearing a Mask? Women, Democrats and City Dwellers". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  11. ^ Haischer, Michael H.; Beilfuss, Rachel; Hart, Meggie Rose; Opielinski, Lauren; Wrucke, David; Zirgaitis, Gretchen; Uhrich, Toni D.; Hunter, Sandra K. (2020-10-15). "Who is wearing a mask? Gender-, age-, and location-related differences during the COVID-19 pandemic". PLOS ONE. pp. e0240785. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0240785.
  12. ^ Hao, Feng; Shao, Wanyun; Huang, Weiwei (2021-03-01). "Understanding the influence of contextual factors and individual social capital on American public mask wearing in response to COVID–19". Health & Place. 68: 102537. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2021.102537. ISSN 1353-8292. PMC 7894115. PMID 33636596.
  13. ^ Marcus, Julia (23 June 2020). "The Dudes Who Won't Wear Masks". The Atlantic. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  14. ^ Ruiz, Rebecca (19 July 2020). "Don't shame people who don't wear masks. It won't work". Mashable. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  15. ^ Bhasin, Tavishi; Butcher, Charity; Gordon, Elizabeth; Hallward, Maia; LeFebvre, Rebecca (2020-12-02). "Does Karen wear a mask? The gendering of COVID-19 masking rhetoric". International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. 40 (9/10): 929–937. doi:10.1108/IJSSP-07-2020-0293. S2CID 224923818.
  16. ^ Todd, Carolyn L. (2 February 2021). "Delta Has Now Banned Nearly 1,000 Passengers for Not Following Mask Rules". Self. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  17. ^ "Tesco, Asda and Waitrose ban shoppers without face masks". BBC News. 12 January 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  18. ^ "Caught multiple times without a face mask? You may face a criminal case". Deccan Herald. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  19. ^ Shiel, Tom (17 December 2020). "Two months in jail for man wearing mask on head 'like a hat'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
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